The BBC has responded, saying that the show did “always proceed to boldly enjoy diversity,” in response to a flurry of complaints about the lengthy appearance of a transgender character in Doctor Who.
Yasmine Finney, a Heartstopper star, recently portrayed Rose Noble as the transgender character in Doctor Who’s special episode titled “The Star Beast,” which commemorates its 60th anniversary.
More than 7.5 million people watched the show in the UK, and 144 people sent emails to an American journalist complaining about the participation of the character.
These complaints were addressed by the Beeb today, which soon shut them down.
Concerns about the transgender Doctor Who character have been dismissed by BBC.
“We have received complaints from people who object to the addition of a transgender character in the program and from others who feel there are too few transgender people represented,” the BBC website notes.
The broadcaster responds by writing, “As regular viewers of Doctor Who will be informed, the show has and will always continue to happily honor diversity and reflect the world we live in,” below. We are constantly aware of the representation in our shows.
This is consistent with what director Russel T. Davies said in a press conference in November (as reported by Deadline): “There are papers of absolute hatred, poison, death, and assault who would rather see that sort of thing wiped off the screen, destroyed.” Good luck to you in your lonely life and shame on you!
Coming of Rose Noble’s Doctor Who clarified
Rose, Donna Noble’s child, made her acting debut in “The Star Beast” and finally made a comeback in “The Giggle,” another anniversary special. And that’s not the last time we’ll see the character.
Rose will shortly appear alongside Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doc in the video for the upcoming season of Doctor Who.
Russell T. Davies explained to Entertainment Weekly why he is bringing the character back: “I was writing a trans character who’s a teenager, part of a family in London, of mixed race, and that is an unusual set of circumstances for a character to fulfill.” There aren’t many people on the list who would audition for that.
Yasmin arrived, and we simply shut the door after that because she was it! Just because I adore working with her, she is absolutely fantastic and has more appearances to come.
